Emerald City's Silver Lining

Way to go, Wichita! Normally high on the "fattest," "sweltering hottest" and "meat-eating-est" cities lists, Wichita was named Kiplinger's #8 "Best Value City."


This is the Wichita photo from the Kiplinger website. I'm sorry...we have trolleys?

Anywho, they say it's based on a city's lifestyle amenities (all-you-can-eat buffets), vibrant economy (meth sales), and low cost of living (I have no snark for this...it's shockingly cheap to live here).

And, sure, the list reads a bit like, "Pit stops on your way elsewhere" but it includes some nice little cities:

1. Omaha, NE
2. Charlotte, NC
3. Nashville, TN
4. Colorado Springs, CO
5. Knoxville, TN
6. Lexington, KY
7. Little Rock, AK
8. Wichita, KS!
9. Cedar Rapids, IA
10. Cincinnati, OH 

(More info: http://kiplinger.com/guides/best-cities/index.html?si=1)

So, as much as I like to poke fun at Wichita, today I'll celebrate some of its greatest values: 

• Truly kind people. Who bake things from scratch. And offer to watch your kids 
• Great school choices - and a million of them - for the boys
• Wine Wednesdays 
• Regular wake-ups by chirping birds. What, am I Snow White?!  
• There's always an open treadmill
• "Heavy traffic" means two cars in the left turn lane

It's generally a great little slice of Americana. And, sure, we hope the boys will someday use it as a launching pad to live in other parts of the world, but for now it's a more-than-fine place for raising the kids.

Fittingly, today we wrapped up our swim sessions - maybe Wichita's greatest value - with the wonderful Miss Linda. For 12 weeks, she's worked with the boys on swimming basics and, today, they took their first jump of the diving board: